England will go into their fourth Cricket World Cup clash looking to cement their place in the top four when they take on the dangerous West Indies.
The tournament hosts sit in fourth place ahead of the clash in Southampton and can move up to second with victory on Friday.
Wins over South Africa and Bangladesh book-ended a shock 14-run loss to Pakistan – a side they recently defeated 4-0 in a five-match one-day international series – while the West Indies have won one, lost one and had one no result as they aim to kick-start their campaign.
Eoin Morgan’s side are the favourites to win the match at 3/10 and we fancy them to come out top for our opening England vs West Indies prediction.
A Look At England’s Betting Odds
England boast two of the five highest run-scorers in the tournament to date, with opener Jason Roy in third with 215 runs and explosive batsman Jos Buttler in fifth on 185 from three matches.
Test captain Joe Root is not far behind in seventh, just six runs shy of Buttler’s total, but cricket fans have not seen England’s batting line-up at its brilliant best.
Despite this, England recorded their seventh successive ODI total of over 300 in the the 106-run triumph over Bangladesh and also registered their highest World Cup score with 386 for six from their 50 overs.
Roy was the main protagonist with a top score of 153, with Buttler cracking 64 from 44 balls and Jonny Bairstow finally getting his tournament under way with a half-century.
Buttler was unable to keep wicket after feeling discomfort in his right hip when hitting a huge six and this comes into our thinking.
Roy has averaged 71.66 with a strike rate of 106.74 from the opening three pool matches and his performances have suggested a possible call-up to the Test team for the Ashes later this summer.
The opener has also been price-boosted to 7/2 to continue his early tournament form and score the most runs for the hosts which is our second bet from the England vs West Indies odds.
A Look At The West Indies’ Betting Odds
The West Indies bowling attack will be tasked with denying the number one ODI team from getting in their groove, which they have the potential to do.
Oshane Thomas, Jason Holder and Andre Russell dismantled the Pakistan batting line-up as they crumbled to 105 all out in just 21.4 overs in their opening World Cup match.
Thomas led the way with a four wickets for 27 runs and he went on to take two more in their 15-run defeat to Australia in game two.
The 22-year-old averages 15.16 per wicket in the tournament and the tall seamer’s pace and bounce can cause plenty of problems for the English batsmen, despite the comforts of home conditions.
The West Indies return to the scene where they managed just 7.3 overs in their washout against struggling South Africa, but they still managed to reduce the Proteas to 29 for two, with Sheldon Cottrell taking both wickets.
However, despite Cottrell’s form, we believe Thomas will be the biggest threat to the hosts and he is priced at 7/2 to be the top Windies bowler as we complete our England vs West Indies betting tips.
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